No I will not marry you, My ice cream dropped from my cone, My girl left me for a football player are examples of all the people that deserves sympathy. Sympathy is that feeling you get inside when you feel sorry for someone. Crooks is the most sympathetic characters in Of Mice and Men because he is treated badly because he is black. He has no one the ranch to relate too and he doesn’t have any friends. They call him the “nigger”. The boss, Curley, is not kind to Crooks. Whenever he sees him, he “Gives the stable buck hell” (19). Even though Crooks has a hard time, Candy still says he is a “nice fella” (20). Crooks loves to read and Candy says he “got books in his room,” (20) which is unusual for the uneducated working men. The reader even learns that Crooks “brang a gallon of whisky on Christmas” even though everyone dislike him. Another reason Crooks is a sympathetic character is because he is lonely. …show more content…
In chapter 4, Lennie comes to visit him.
Crooks demand Lennie to get out because he’s not wanted. Lennie asked,”why ain’t you wanted” (68) Crooks replied, “can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, all of you stink to me” (68). Crooks is very alone and all he does is read books. So when Lennie comes to Crooks house, Crooks scared Lennie away with the words he said. Crooks said,”I didn’t mean to scare you”,”I was just talkin’ about myself” (73). Crooks enjoy when Lennie comes over because,”he sits alone out here at night, maybe readin’ books or thinkin’ or stuff like that” (73).Crooks is a really respectful guy that keeps to himself. He is lonely and most of the guys on the farm does not respect him because of his skin color. “ A guy needs somebody to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got
nobody”.(80) In Of Mice and Men, there are a few characters that show sympathy. Throughout the book the reader will notice that curlys wife is one of the characters that showed the most sympathy in the book. She shows the most sympathy when she vents and tells the reader that she isn’t happy. She states in the book "I tell you I ain't used to livin' like this. I coulda made somethin' of myself." She said darkly, "Maybe I will yet." And then her words tumbled out in a passion of communication, as though she hurried before her listener could be taken away. "I lived right in Salinas," she said. "Come there when I was a kid. Well, a show come through, an' I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show. But my ol' lady wouldn' let me. She says because I was on'y fifteen. But the guy says I coulda. If I'd went, I wouldn't be livin' like this, you bet." She explains the fact that when she was a little girl her mom stopped her from doing what she wanted because she was “supposedly” too young. Lennie has a mental illness that makes him have the mind of a child and he mostly forgets things that are said to him.“Tried and tried to remember” said Lennie, but it didn’t do no good. I remember about the rabbits, George.”(4) In this small passage Lennie does not remember what George says but does remember the rabbits that he wants to tend, kind of how a kid does not remember to do the things his parents tell him to do. He does things that get him in trouble without knowing it. For example, George says this about Lennie’s incident at Weed, "Jus" wanted to feel that girl's dress wanted to pet it like it was a mouse She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in an irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin' for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outta the county” (11). Sympathy is everywhere from real life to books. It can really make you feel pity for someone. Of Mice and Men is an example of feeling much sympathy for these characters. Crooks deserves a lot of sympathy. Lennie also deserves pity, but not as much as Curley's Wife. In the world we live in today people find ways to make money of off sympathy. We see it on a everyday bases
Crooks also feels a great deal of loneliness, as he is an outcast on the ranch. He lives in his own room where hardly anybody ever bothers him. He is never invited to play cards or do anything fun with the other guys. One day a curious Lenny asked, “Why ain’t you wanted?” Crooks replies “Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They think I stink. Well I tell you, you all stink to me” (pg. ). Crooks’ attitude towards this is shown when he saw Lennie playing with his puppy outside of Crooks’ quarters. Crooks states that “if me, as a black man, is not allowed in the white quarters, then white men are not allowed in mine” (pg. ). However this is merely a front as the more open side of Crooks is shown later on in the book.
Crooks is a character who is mistreated in many ways because he is black. Crooks is the stable buck of the barn. It’s not certain whether Crooks is his name, or his nickname, but we know he got kicked in the back by a horse and had a crooked back ever since. Nevertheless he gets yelled at by the boss every time something’s wrong. " ‘The boss gives him hell when he’s mad. But the stable buck don’t give a damn
John Steinbeck, the author of the novel Of Mice and Men uses many stylistic devices and description in chapter one to give the reader a deeper understanding of what may occur throughout the novel. Firstly, the name of the city the two protagonists, Lennie and George, are heading to is called “Soledad,” which means loneliness in Spanish; this is symbolism and foreshadowing because it can mean that as they get closer to the city, their relationship as friends may deteriorate and they may end up alone towards the end. Furthermore, this could also mean that there can be major problems in further chapters because of Lennie’s unpredictable behaviour due to his mental disabilities. In relation to Robert Burns’s poem, “To a Mouse,” the author may be
The harsh reality is one which hit everyone in America in the 1930. People found work hard to find and crime was on the uprise. This meant, unfortunately, that innocent people were the easy prey and, as we see in the Of Mice and Men, there were plenty of characters that were easy prey. Of Mice and Men characters have and do thing that make them vulnerable in way which do cause trouble. In this essay, that harsh reality and easy prey will be shown through to see which characters are the most vulnerable.
“A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. ‘I tell ya’ he cried. ‘I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.” (Page 72-73) As you can see, Crooks also spends most of his time alone because he is black. He is not allowed to enter the bunk house nor go to town with the guys. He is not allowed to enter the bunk house, he is not allowed to go to town with the guys and nobody likes him because he is black. This shows that he has no friendship and his whole life is filled with loneliness. His case is different from Lennie’s.
Although discrimination is still present during the time period of the book, Crooks still attempts to make friends. Others treat Crooks unjust because he is different from others given that he is black. He does not know how to treat others because of the way others treat him; with disrespect. Furthermore, he does not know how to vent his frustration and as a result, lashes out at others because they are cruel to him. Crooks is not allowed to participate in daily events with white people. He is treated unfairly and therefore acts the same way toward the white people (the ones who offended him.)
When asked about John Steinbeck’s career, people often refer to Steinbeck as a playwright, journalist, and a well-known novelist. The book Of Mice and Men is a popular novel by John Steinbeck and a required read for most high school students. Most of Steinbeck 's novels have a central theme focusing on the relationship between man and his environment. The American dream for George and Lennie, two of the main characters in Of Mice and Men, is to have a place of their own, to be respected, and to work hard for everything they earn and deserve. In Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the land and a hope of a better life becomes the talisman of an American dream for Lennie and George that is left unfulfilled.
Crooks suffers from loneliness, because he is black, not because he is an unfriendly person. Crooks, though, may seem mean, but he is just tired of being rejected and disrespected by everybody around him. Crooks has a horrible life. He will never have a companion or anybody that will respect him unless he meets another black person. Crooks says,” I’ll tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick. (Pg. 73)” He doesn’t even have the opportunity to have a companion, and that is sad.
Crooks was a black, physically disabled rancher. All of these combined caused him to be far from included in other’s activities and lives. All the same, Crooks refused to be pushed around by most. Crooks said to Lennie when he entered his room, “You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me” (Of Mice 68). Although Lennie is eventually allowed into his room, Crooks would not stand for anyone disrespecting his rights. He had enough self-assurance to defend his space even though blacks would normally not speak up for themselves. Crooks believed he was worthy to his private place thus making him dignified. Crooks also refused charity. When Lennie and Candy spoke to him about their plans with the farm Crooks was very intrigued. At first thought, Crooks wanted to join them with their plans, but after some deliberation Crooks backed out (Of Mice 83). He had too much respect for himself to accept charity and live with people whom he would not be helpful to. Although it would have benefited him to live with them, Crooks exhibited his strength and chose the dignified route. The strength Crooks showed attributed him with
An example of how the men are discriminative towards Crooks is that he is forced to live in a shack away from the bunkhouse and also Crooks says that "They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say "I stink" and "I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse." An example of when Curley's Wife is critical towards Crooks is when she looks into his room to see what Lennie and Crooks are doing and then she states, shaking her head, that they left the weak ones behind. Also, she threatens to have Crooks hanged because a black man should never talk to a white woman the way he just had. As a result of all of these discriminatory acts against him, Crooks feels unwanted and lonely because of his color and placement on the farm.
First and foremost, Crooks is a person who gets treated with discrimination, much more than anyone else. Simply because he is black and has a crooked back, from which he received his name from. People continuously treat him horribly, one person being Curley’s Wife. “Well you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even
Racial discrimination has been around for a long time, judging people for the color of their skin. Crooks is affected by this because he is black. Blacks in that time were thought as lesser than the white people. The racial discrimination affects Crooks' life in only negative ways. He is plagued by loneliness because of the color of his skin. His lack of company drives him crazy. Only when Lennie comes in to his room does he feel less lonely. He talked of his loneliness using a hypothetical scenario of George leaving Lennie. Crooks' responds to this discrimination by staying in his barn and being secluded. He doesn't want anyone to be in there but deep down he does so he can have some company. He isn't wanted in the bunk house or to play cards with the others because he is black. This effected the story by letting people walk all over him, letting them think they can do whatever they want, and ultimately making the people think they have a lot of power when really they do not.
Crooks is the only black man on the farm and is named so, because of his crooked back. Crooks’s dark skin insures he does not have the same privileges as the rest of the men on the ranch. Crooks is not allowed to enter the bunkhouse with all the white ranchers so instead he has to sleep in the barn with all the animals. Similarly to Curley’s wife, Crooks is also not allowed to participate in any games with the other ranch workers. This probably makes Crooks feel ashamed of himself, however he can’t quit his job because he needs the money to survive. This is another example of when weak people are treated unfairly by the more important. Even though Curley’s wife is mistreated herself, she knows she is superior to Crooks, so whenever she gets the opportunity to, she also threatens to fire him. Throughout the story, Curley’s wife is sad because she is abused by the men on the farm, however when she gets the chance to, she does the same thing. This situation proves, that as soon as someone has a little bit more power, they are going to use it against the
In the book Of Mice and Men works as a stable buck on the ranch. Crooks is a lonely, wrinkle man that think that everyone is racist because he is black, and that made him anger enough to take part of his anger out on Lennie. Pg. 68 paragraph 6 “’Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black.”
The conversation on page 68 of the book perfectly explains the discrimination against Crooks: “‘Why ain’t you wanted?’ Lennie asked. ‘’Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink.’” (Steinbeck, 68). Crooks is unfairly treated solely based on his skin color, and the other men only say that he stinks to avoid dealing with him. In addition, Crooks displayed his need for attention when, on page 69, after Lennie had walked into his room, he states, “Come on in and set a while.” (Steinbeck, 69). He is proving how extreme isolation can cause one to crave human interaction. Although Crooks acts like he is reluctantly inviting Lennie in, he was truly excitedly welcoming Lennie, who stopped to talk in Crooks’ own house where no one else ever goes.